


My First, My Last, My Everything

by Babenclaw



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Eventual Smut, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Rating's going to go up as we get further into the collection, collection, over a very long and kind of unconnected timeline haha, relationship exploration, traditional discomfort with new relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-05
Updated: 2017-03-25
Packaged: 2018-08-29 03:57:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 10,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8474440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Babenclaw/pseuds/Babenclaw
Summary: Friends forever is a pretty long time, but caring for him was easy and loving her was easier. A collection of firsts.





	1. First Hug

Aqua buried her face in her skinned knees, hiding the redness in her eyes that could only really come from crying. Outside, she could hear Terra calling for her and, further away, the Master’s own quiet voice. She knew that Terra hadn’t really meant it, hadn’t meant to call her useless or unworthy of her keyblade when he’d joked about her inabilities, but it didn’t hurt any less that he had done it. She tried again, reaching desperately for the power she felt resting just out of her grasp, but her blade still wouldn’t come. The Master insisted that it wasn’t a problem, that it took some apprentices months to learn how to call their blades to them, but Terra had managed it within weeks, managed to call forward his own blade of bronze, almost as tall as he was. The Master said their blades were fit for who they would grow to be rather than who they were. Aqua wondered how big Terra would get if he summoned such a large blade.

She rubbed her eyes furiously with closed fists, trying to stop the slowly leaking tears. The sound of footsteps beneath her caused her to gasp, pressing her back harder into the trunk behind her, trying to hide herself in the cover of interwoven branches. Aqua didn’t want to be found. Aqua wanted to cry in peace and return to the castle with her own blade in her hands. But her light wouldn’t obey her, wouldn’t form into anything at all. It hurt, it hurt so much that Terra was so naturally good at things she had to work for. Yes, she could do magic, but she was a Keyblade wielder, not a magician. 

But was she even a Keyblade wielder if she couldn’t summon her Keyblade?  A shiver raced down her spine and she hugged her legs tighter, the branches creaking under her weight.

“Aqua?” she heard from beneath her, and she bit her tongue to avoid making a sound. It was Terra, though she didn’t think she’d ever heard him sound like that. He’d only been here a little while, but he had never spoken with such remorse in his voice. Maybe he was actually sorry?

“Aqua, please come out… The Master is really angry at me…” he said, and Aqua huffed before she could stop herself. Nevermind.

Terra looked up and spotted her hair immediately, the bright blue not hiding well against the greenery around her. He smiled for a moment, stopping beneath her tree.

“I can see you, Aqua. Stop crying and come down,” he said, crossing his arms across his chest. Aqua bit her lip hard, trying to stop the tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes. Why was he so mean to her? What had she done?

“‘M not crying,” she got out, and she hoped her voice was as even as it sounded. Terra leaned against the trunk of her chosen tree.

“Sure, fine. Come down already, it’s late.”

Aqua scrubbed at her face, trying to wipe away any trace of the tears that had fallen. He was right; she wasn’t sure how long she’d been in the trees, but the hush of dusk was already heavy on the world, the night air filled with crickets and summer heat. Once Aqua thought she was put together, she stood and carefully dropped out of the tree, landing with relative grace a few feet from Terra who looked mildly surprised at the drop she’d made. Aqua crossed her arms and pointedly looked away from him, making her way back to the castle without acknowledging him any further. Terra sputtered for a moment before jogging after her, easily falling into step beside her.

The space between them was thick with tension, making Aqua wish she’d just gone to the castle on her own rather than moping long enough for Terra to actually manage to find her. She didn’t want to be walking along with him like this. She didn’t even want to be looking at him after this afternoon’s training session.

Terra poked her side, causing her to swat at his hand. He was quick, though, and grabbed her hand, causing them both to stop on the forest path. She tugged, but he was still stronger than her and held her firmly in place.

“Let go of me!” she shouted, trying to yank her hand away. Terra only gripped her tighter.

“Listen to me first,” he said. She bit her lip and pulled again, and this time he let her go. She backed away, holding her hands to her chest. Her shoulders hunched inward and she turned back to the castle, ignoring the feeling of his eyes on her back.

“I don’t wanna hear it,” she said. Terra licked his lips nervously, unsure of what to say.

“Please?” he tried. Aqua looked down at her hand for a moment, thinking, and then slowly turned to face him.

“What.”

Terra offered her his hand, which she stared at as though it was foreign. Some part of her registered the peace offering there, the fact that she could choose not to take his hand and he would not force her. She hesitantly reached out and took his hand in hers.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it, what I said,” he told her, gently squeezing her hand. She sighed. She wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting from him, but that was just disappointing enough to not be it.

“Is that all?”

Terra shook his head. “Close your eyes, okay?” Aqua tried to release his hand and pull away, but he still had a firm grip on her, which only tightened after her attempt to let go. “Please? Just trust me.”

Aqua shivered, the quickly cooling air sending a shiver down her spine. Did she trust him? He’d hurt her, yes, but he didn’t seem to mean it. She swallowed nervously, staring down at their conjoined hands, before hesitantly closing her fingers around his hand again and closing her eyes.

Terra smiled, amazed that she had actually listened to him, before he did the same. “Okay. Just… just feel, okay?”

Aqua nodded after a moment, her shoulders tense, and waited. She jumped when it went from the feeling of his hand in hers to the feeling of solid metal between their conjoined palms, weight holding their hands in place. She felt him release it and call it, again and again, filling and emptying the space between their hands. And she understood. She understood what she wasn’t realizing before, what was missing as she tried to force a part of her to do something it wasn’t meant to do. And in her free right hand, almost without thinking, she called her blade forth, asking it to join her instead of insisting it bend to her, and her right hand was suddenly heavy with warm metal humming in her touch.

Terra grinned, still not releasing her hand or his blade. “You did it, Aqua!”

Aqua slowly opened her eyes, staring in awe at the blade of blues and silvers in her hand, listening to the feel of it against her palm, the way it hummed, nearly sang. She’d done it.

There was a moment of awe before she released her grip on his hand, throwing herself forward to hug him tight with both arms around his middle, nearly shaking as she fought off the tears at the back of her eyes again. “I did it!”

Terra released his blade to hug her back, smiling and relieved to see that she was smiling again. “You did it.”

Aqua pulled away from him, still grinning like he had given her the best gift in the world, and grabbed his free hand, tugging him insistently down the forest path. “Come on, I want to show the Master!”

Terra conceded to allow himself to be dragged through the woods, just glad to feel her light burning brightly again, glad to see the smile back on her face.


	2. First Time Holding Hands

Terra glared down at the tiny, flickering flame between his palms, cursing it for its stubbornness. He could feel his own innate magic in his chest, twisting and pulling, but no matter how much he asked, how much he pulled and prodded, it would not flow. 

Across the room from him, Aqua was contentedly stretching and playing with her ball of flames, now twice the size of her palms and crackling merrily in the silence. Terra grit his teeth and frowned at his own pitiful flame, pushing angrily at his magic. His flame sputtered for a moment, almost growing into a real fire, and then wavered and flickered out of existence. Terra stared at the empty space between his hands before clenching them into fists, angrily slamming them against his thighs. Aqua looked up, the ball of flames flickering away to nothing in her surprise.

“Terra?” she asked quietly, nervous from the sudden shock. 

Terra ignored her, instead placing his hands close together again. “Fire,” he nearly growled, biting his cheek and yanking against his magic with all his strength. A flickering ball came to life between his palms for a shining moment, and Terra nearly allowed himself to grin, to relax and accept that he had finally succeeded, before the fire flickered and died out in his hand. Terra slowly lowered his hands, closing his eyes to avoid looking over at Aqua or down at his hands where no fire glowed. Its absence made his hands feel cold. 

Aqua squirmed nervously, waiting for him to react, but he just sat there, staring down at his lap and digging his fingers into the floor beneath him. His arms trembled from the strength he poured into not reacting, not showing Aqua that he was so upset. It was such a girl thing to do what she’d done, run off and hide in the woods and cry, but he wasn’t a girl, he was a boy, and boys didn’t get upset about stuff like this. No, boys were strong and silent and good at things and he was so angry that he couldn’t even cast a simple Fire spell. He bit his tongue and stood up from his space on the floor, determined to leave without saying anything. Aqua stood too, though, and was across the room and in front of him before he had the time to escape. 

“Um,” Aqua said, her fingers fidgeting nervously with the edges of her new gloves. “Can I… Can I try to help?”

Terra nearly pushed her away from him, but something about the sparkle in her eyes held him back, made him pause and reconsider the harsh words simmering at the back of his tongue. “How? How can you help, Aqua?” His words were still harsher than he meant them to be, full of fire he couldn’t manage to summon at his will but rather fire he directed at people he should be protecting.

Aqua tried not to let the hurt show, which honestly bothered Terra more than if she would just admit she was hurt, admit she was upset when he snapped at her like this. Instead, she gently held both her hands out, palms up.

“Remember when you showed me how to summon your Keyblade?” she asked quietly, her voice low0. And how could Terra forget? How could he forget the hurt on her face before she hid it behind the somber, cerulean blue of her eyes? How could he forget the wonder that spread across her face, lighting her eyes like stardust, her smile a solar flare that nearly blinded him as she gripped his blade in her left hand and her blade in her right? The way she’d hugged him like he had pulled down the moon for her with nothing but his own strength.

“Yeah,” he said instead, because how could he ever explain the warmth, the light that memory held where he hid it, tucked deep away in his heart?

Aqua smiled, not her blinding smile but rather a moonbeam, quiet and somber but still beautiful, and wiggled her fingers. “Give me your hands.”  
  
And Terra did, rested his hands in hers, his hands still not big enough to dwarf hers in the way they would one day but larger already, her fingertips brushing near his second knuckles.

Aqua closed her eyes. Terra felt foolish staring at her, so he closed his too.

“Just.... feel, okay?” Aqua whispered, and Terra nodded before remembering that her eyes were closed and grunting a quiet agreement instead.

Aqua took a breath, releasing it in a breath that formed the word of the spell, and Terra gasped as he felt the magic race through her fingers and into the small space she’d created between their palms, twin fires coming to existence at her call, warming his hand and hers and crackling between them.

Terra was so enthralled by the feeling of her magic, ebbing and flowing with the fire between them, that he sighed in disappointment when he felt the thread cut. His eyes fluttered open when she released the spell, the air between them cooling slightly, and he was suddenly aware of the way their fingers had twined to form the fireball’s cages, of how delicate her fingers were between his. He swallowed and focused instead on his own magic, swirling and warm within himself, feeling like hers but not at the same time. Hers felt cool and comforting, a familiar presence of sharpness and softness. His felt harder, more alien, less willing to bend.

“It’s not like our Keyblades,” Aqua said, her eyes still closed and her head slightly bowed. Her lips were turned up in a small smile. Could she feel him watching her? He closed his eyes quickly, trying to pretend he hadn’t been. “You don’t ask it and you don’t command it. You just clear the way and let it flow. Like water.”

Terra licked his lips nervously. He didn’t want to fail now, not when she was trying so hard to do for him what he’d done for her. Aqua opened her eyes just in time to see him, eyes shut tight and brow furrowed, whisper the spell to himself. Again, warmth between their palms, a smaller fire but a strong one nonetheless. 

“I’m going to let go now, okay?” Aqua murmured to him, slowly loosening her fingers from his and pulling away. “Just let it flow. Try to make the path wider.”

Terra’s brow furrowed again, but he nodded and brought his hands together, cupping the fledgling flame between his palms. Inhale, exhale. Press the paths a little wider. The flame grew until it, much like Aqua’s, was happily dancing in his hands.

Aqua clapped, her smile wide, and Terra opened his eyes to look up at her with a smile of his own, allowing the flame to flicker out.

“You did it, Terra!” Aqua said, grabbing his hands and squeezing them tightly. “You did so well!”

Terra laughed and shifted to twine his fingers through hers properly. “Yeah, I guess so. Thanks, Aqua. You’re a good teacher.”

Aqua rolled her eyes, but her cheeks flushed with pleasure told Terra that she appreciated the compliment nonetheless. “Well, I had a good student.”

Terra laughed and released her hands before returning to his position, criss cross, staring at his hands as he summoned and released the small flame at will. It still wasn’t as big as Aqua’s, but he could fix that.

He just had to learn Fira first.


	3. First Time Fighting Each Other

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Or: As Keyblade apprentices, they had to cross blades someday.

When Aqua woke in the morning, nothing really felt different. She got dressed in her training shorts and a t-shirt, pulling her hair back into a ponytail in preparation for her daily lessons. When she padded her way downstairs, her mouth tasting heavily of her mint mouthwash, to meet Terra and her Master for breakfast, she had never imagined that she would find herself facing down her friend only hours later.

Yet here she was, holding a hesitant defensive position and keeping a wary eye on the still-too-big Keyblade Terra hefted at his side, looking slightly off-balance from its length. Neither of them seemed willing to move first, instead waiting for the other to step forward, swing their still unfamiliar weapons at each other. Their Master watched nearby, his face impassive as he observed his students and their reluctance. Aqua fidgeted under the weight of his stare, adjusting her grip on the pommel of Rainfell, waiting with a furiously beating heart for the moment she would have to stop that huge blade with only her strength.

“Terra,” Master Eraqus finally said, a small note of warning in his voice. “Begin.”

Terra hesitated only a moment more before adjusting his grip on his blade, lifting it fully and charging forward to clash with Aqua, who brought her blade up to block his. The sound of metal scraping along metal rang through the hall, causing Aqua to wince. While Terra hadn’t put too much force behind the swing, the weight of the blade itself was nearly too much for Aqua to handle. Compared to how she and Terra had sparred before, nearly choreographed fights with wooden replicas of their own Keyblades, this was dangerous and exciting and just a bit terrifying. While the conscious, rational part of Aqua knew that their Master would let no harm come to them, there was something about the way the light gleamed off that bronze blade, sharpening the teeth and threatening damage with every glimmer. She pushed the blade away with her own, forcing Terra to step back to catch its weight with both hands. He adjusted his grip again before leaping forward, swinging at her side only to miss as Aqua dodged out of the way. Her blade made it difficult for Aqua to dodge as she normally would, with graceful cartwheels and flexibility, instead resorting to more basic lunges and leaps to avoid the painful-looking blade her friend wielded.

The blue-haired girl continued her pattern, ducking and weaving her way around the blade and only blocking when she had no other choice, each collision ringing solidly up her arms and into her shoulders, her muscles aching from the weight Terra was putting behind each and every attack. The sound of her Master calling a stop to Terra’s attacks came with a heavy dose of relief. Aqua stretched her shoulders and arms while Eraqus critiqued Terra’s attacks and movements, her breath coming heavy and searing her lungs.

“Aqua, now you,” Eraqus called from the sideline after giving them both a moment to catch their breath.

Aqua swallowed past the dryness in her throat, adjusting her footing from defensive to offensive. Weight held slightly more on her back leg than her front, shoulders steady and even, sword held ready at her side. She had a bit of an unfair advantage, if she was being honest with herself- her blade was shorter and lighter than Terra’s, more usable for someone her size- but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t take pride in a victory here. She didn’t consider the implications of her friend’s eventual size, though the idea of defending herself against a boy who wielded that blade easily was a little scary.

Terra, from behind his blade, gave her a little smile. She could almost hear his voice goading her on. “C’mon Aqua,” he’d say to her. “Give it your best shot!”

She smiled back, a little quirk of her lips at best, and moved forward suddenly, taking full advantage of her speed and her ability to move with more freedom, unburdened by her Keyblade’s weight like he was. Terra’s eyes went wide and he raised his blade, barely managing to block the strike she’d aimed at his unprotected side. Aqua grinned at him now, jumping back and marveling a bit at how wonderful it felt to wield her Keyblade like this, at how easily she fell into the position of being a warrior. 

Terra couldn’t help but smile back, now gripping his blade in both hands. Aqua stepped forward just as he did, their blades clashing again between them. A laugh rang out- hers? His?- as they fell into a rhythm they’d practiced before, when their blades were sticks and later wood, giving and taking and pushing each other to their limits, just like they always had. Back and forth they went, Aqua dancing around Terra while Terra met her steadily, attack for attack. Wielding his blade with two hands seemed to be working well for him, though Aqua could see the exhaustion slowly making itself known in the way his blade trembled underneath hers as he blocked her again and again, unable to dodge out of the way of her blows the way she was. Still, the sheer weight of Earthshaker seemed to be taking its toll on Terra, his movements to block her becoming more sluggish as Aqua pressed her advantage, dancing her way around him and aiming for any unprotected part of him that she could find. The rush of battle had caught her, the excitement of the fight, and she couldn’t keep the smile from her face even as her muscles screamed for a break, for relief.

“Enough,” Eraqus finally called from across the hall. Aqua let her blade drop, using the bottom of her shirt to mop away the sweat covering her forehead, grinning all the while. Her blade vanished from her hand in a flash of light as Terra did the same. Aqua was relieved to see a similar smile on Terra’s features, a sign that he had enjoyed the fight just as she had. Eraqus spoke again, outlining his critiques of Aqua’s offensive as well as their defenses as a whole, but the smile never left either of their faces.


	4. First Time Sharing a Bed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Or: Sharing a bed platonically only really works if your feelings for your bedmate are platonic.

Terra stared without seeing out the window. There was little for him to see; the rain was heavy enough to cover the whole window and the streets outside, the water level rising and flooding the streets with inches of water. It was dark in the room, the power having gone out about ten minutes before. The whole street was cast in shadows and darkness, barring the lightning that occasionally lit the window from outside.

He turned at the sound of footsteps, seeing Aqua re-enter the room with a few candles cradled in her arms. She set them around her room in candle holders, carefully lighting them with a matchbook she pulled from one of her pockets. When the last candle was lit, she waved the match out and turned to him, fidgeting in the candlelight.

“Master thinks we should stay where we are for now,” she said apologetically, opening and closing the matchbook in her hands. “He says it may be dangerous on our gliders.”

Terra shrugged, turning back to the window and staring unseeingly. Aqua sighed, crossing an arm across her front and rubbing her other arm with her hand. Her eyes wandered the room, taking in the singular bed in the room and the dark, flickering light of the few candles she’d gotten from the owner of the inn. Tension hung thick and heavy in the air. Aqua knew that he had also noticed the lack of space for two people. She sighed softly and shed her armor, bell sleeves, and metal boots, putting them under the desk next to the bed.

The bed itself was comfortably soft, covered in neutral tan colors to compliment the warmer browns of the room. The covers were thick and soft under her hands to combat the cold weather of this world. Aqua sighed and unlaced the corset around her waist, laying it over the desk chair along with her sashes. She slid her stockings down her legs and tucked them into her boots, leaving her in only her shorts and top. Her toes dug into the rug under her feet as she pulled the covers back, sliding under and pulling them up to her chin.

Terra stayed facing out the window, trying to ignore the shuffling sound of fabric from behind her as she got ready for bed. When everything went silent, he turned around to meet her eyes peeking over the top of the blanket.

He cleared his throat and crossed his arm, leaning back against the window and ignoring the rumble of thunder outside. “Are there any spare blankets?”

Aqua shook her head. “No, none.”

Terra bit back a curse. “Alright. I’ll be fine for a night.” He tried not to think about how cold he would probably be by the morning after a night on the floor.

Aqua sighed and glared at him from over the blankets. “Yes, you will, because the bed is big enough for the two of us.”

Terra frowned. “You want to share a bed? Why would we do that?”

She sat up, allowing the covers to fall to her waist. Terra tried to ignore the way she looked without all of her armor, with her hair framing her face and candlelight flickering in her eyes. It was harder than he cared to admit. “Because I asked you.”

“That doesn’t mean I intend to listen,” he replied. Aqua noticed that he made no movement to prepare himself a bed on the rug, though. She hated the idea of him curled up on the rug, shivering, while she slept comfortably in a warm bed.

She sighed and held a hand out to him. “Please?”

Terra looked at the open palm in front of him for a moment, weighing his options. True, the floor sounded uncomfortable at best, but could he handle spending the night next to her like this? 

He swallowed nervously and nodded, ignoring the light flush in his cheeks. “Okay.”

Aqua smiled like he’d offered her the world and relaxed back into the pillows, nestling under the covers. “Good.”

Terra sighed and shed his armor and boots as well, pushing them against the wall. He usually slept without his shirt, wearing soft flannel pants, but this was an unusual night. He circled the room once, blowing out the few candles Aqua had lit, before climbing cautiously into the bed. He lay on his side, his back to Aqua, and tried to pretend he wasn’t keenly aware of her body so close to his.

Aqua stared at his back for a moment, noticing the tension in his shoulders. He seemed supremely uncomfortable. She wished he would relax; he was making her tense up too. She reached out and gently rested her hand on his shoulder, her fingers splayed out against the hollow between his shoulder blades. The warmth from his skin was pleasant against the coolness of her hands.

“Hey. It’s just me,” she whispered to his taut shoulders. “It’s okay.”

Terra sighed and forced himself to relax. Aqua withdrew her hand and smiled to his back, even though she knew he wouldn’t see it. That was okay with her.

“Goodnight, Terra,” she said softly. He hummed in reply.

Through the closed window, lightning flashed. The rumble of thunder was soon followed by the rumble of Terra’s quiet snores, finding a rhythm with Aqua’s own breaths.


	5. First Kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Or: Good friends will choose to stay with you every time.

Aqua, her feet bare and dipped in the small pond before her, leaned back on her arms and stared up at the clear blue sky above her. Clouds lazily crawled their way across its pristine surface, casting shadows around her that gave way to light as they moved. She kicked her feet lazily, listening to the quiet sounds of the water lapping against her ankles and the shore. 

She was so entranced by the darkness creeping across the bright green grass of her home, she didn’t notice the figure approaching her until he sat next to her, criss-cross like they would sit while Master forced them to meditate. Well, forced him anyway. Aqua enjoyed meditation, the quiet rhythm of her breaths and the feel of her heartbeat as it slowed, calmed in her chest.

She acknowledged Terra with a nod and a small smile before returning to staring at the ripples across the surface of the water, watching the way she stirred up sand as she kicked her feet. 

While she could spend hours out here, listening to the wind through the rings and the water beneath her, he could not. It wasn’t long before he started fidgeting next to her, tugging at his hakama pants and playing with the band at his wrist. It was why he was so bad at meditation, she supposed. Terra was the type to jump into anything, blade ready. Aqua preferred to consider her options, take the time to really think things through. It was both a strength and a weakness of hers. 

Aqua pulled her toes from the water, moving back to lay out fully in the grass and let the sun dry her damp skin. Terra fidgeted for a moment more before laying out next to her, his hand close enough to hers that she could almost reach out, almost tangle their fingers together and hold him here with her, where she wanted him to stay.

She did not. Instead, she stretched and relaxed back, feeling the sun warming her skin and listening to the sound of his breath close by. It was strangely calming, exactly what she needed right now. She relied on him being there, relied on him being close by to her when she needed him most. He’d always known when she needed him, just like this, just like she knew when he needed her. They’d lived together for so long, been best friends and companions in the face of their Master’s insistence, that they just knew when they were needed. He was comfortable and familiar, her best friend.

Finally, as the sun was starting its descent to the horizon and the air started to cool, the wind fluttering gently across Aqua’s exposed skin and ruffling the sashes at her waist, she turned her head to the side, meeting the blue eyes she’d felt on her for a while now. In the orange glow of the setting sun, Terra’s skin looked darker, warm like the light beneath his skin. Her fingers twitched as she thought for just a moment about reaching out and playing her fingers along the shadows of his jaw. She did not.

“Terra,” she said instead, her voice low. She was afraid to interrupt whatever was between them, the comfortable quiet. Terra hummed to acknowledge he had heard her, to encourage her to continue speaking. Aqua swallowed, sitting up and pulling her legs to her chest. Her chin rested on the arm wrapped around her leg.

“When you’re a Master,” she said, and here she hesitated. How could she explain the uncomfortable tension that had settled in her chest, the feeling that he would one day leave her behind? Terra waited quietly, letting her gather her thoughts. Aqua held her hand against her chest, taking a deep breath to steady herself.

“When you’re a Master,” she continued, “where do you want to go?”

Terra shrugged as though the idea of leaving had never occurred to him, even as his eyes traveled from star to star as they appeared one by one, twinkling in the steadily darkening twilight.. “Dunno,” he said at last, hesitating before sitting up to be even with her as they talked. “Wherever I’m needed, I guess.”

Aqua tugged at her sashes, pulling them across the bare skin of her thighs like an ineffectual blanket. “And… if you were needed here?” The grass beneath her seemed suddenly very interesting, especially when her other option was the sharp gaze he was directing at her. Had she looked up, she would have seen the look soften into something gentle, a smile appearing to match. But she did not look up, and so she missed it. She did not miss, however, when his hand came across to cover hers, his palm dwarfing hers. She looked up suddenly, her breath catching in her throat at the kindness in his eyes, the understanding there.

“What about you?” he asked instead. “Where will you go?”

Aqua shrugged, twining her fingers into his and reveling in the warmth of his grip. “Same as you. I’ll go where I’m needed.”

Terra laughed softly, squeezing her hand in his. “Then we’ll just have to go together.”

Aqua smiled, the tension in her chest lessening slightly. He was right, after all. The two of them were a team, nearly unstoppable when they were together. She wouldn’t let this pull them apart. 

“Right. Together,” she whispered, a smile pulling up the corners of her lips without her ever even realizing. And then, before she could second guess herself, she leaned across the space separating them and pressed a quick, dry kiss to his lips. It was nothing, barely a second at most, but when she pulled back he stared up at her with such surprise and awe it almost made her heart ache. Aqua blushed, releasing his hand and standing quickly to avoid his eyes. 

“I, uh, should go start dinner,” she said, grabbing her stockings and boots from the spot she’d dropped them hours ago, when she’d come out here alone to mope about something that might never happen. She took off, barefoot, across the grass, her form graceful and light. Terra followed her with his eyes until she vanished into the castle before flopping back onto the grass again, staring at the moon in the sky with a whole new appreciation. He touched the corner of his mouth, imagining again the feeling of her lips, soft and not at all chapped like his own, pressed against his. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm running out of finished chapters for this, but I'm just so excited to publish them even with no time to work on them. The real struggle, honestly.


	6. First Time Cuddling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Or: Terra promised he'd make the things that scared her go away, by any means necessary.

Terra was usually a sound sleeper, especially in his own bed. He trusted implicitly in the safety of the wards surrounding the Land of Departure. His Master kept the land safe so that they could sleep calmly in their beds, not needing to remain vigilant even in their slumber.   
So when something jolted him awake in the early-morning darkness, he did nothing for a moment other than blink sleepily at the shadows on his ceiling, trying to figure out what could have possibly awoken him so suddenly.

In the shadows, there was a movement. He sat up, squinting into the dark to see what was in his room. He didn’t summon his blade yet, waiting to see if the threat made such actions necessary. 

His eyes took time to adjust to the dark of his room, a form appearing from the dark. He recognized the shape shivering, hovering in his doorway, and sat up, aware of his lack of shirt and the strange atmosphere that came from the starlight seeping in through the window. He swallowed past the dryness in his mouth that was keeping him from speaking.

“Ah-” he started, then cleared his throat. “Aqua?”

The figure shifted nervously, wrapping her arms around her middle. “H-hey,” she murmured, taking a step closer to the bed. He could almost see her now, see the blue in her hair shimmer from the touch of the light. He swallowed again. She fidgeted under the strength of his gaze.

“Is something wrong?” Terra finally asked after a long pause. The bedsprings creaked under his weight as he shifted towards the wall, making space for her. Aqua hesitated for a moment before settling gracefully on his bed, crossing her legs under herself. The dark circles under her eyes spoke heavily to her exhaustion. Terra rested his back against the wall, the covers still pulled up to hide his lack of a shirt, and offered her his hand. Her palm was small and delicate in his, cold to the touch, but her grip was strong. Much like her.

“Aqua,” he tried again, intentionally keeping his voice low and soothing. “What’s wrong?”

Aqua fidgeted with his fingers to avoid meeting his eyes. She mumbled something to his hand, though he only caught the word “nightmare” from her. Terra bit back his surprise at the idea of calm, collected, strong Aqua having a nightmare, of her laying in bed in the darkness and shaking, tossing and turning under the weight of her own terror. He squeezed her hand gently, trying to soundlessly convey to her his sympathy. Words, after all, had never been his forte.

She looked up at him at last, swallowing back her discomfort. “Can I… stay here? With you?”

Terra couldn’t hide his astonishment this time. Taking his surprise as a rejection, Aqua flushed and tried to pull her hand away. He gripped her hand between both of his before he even had time to think of a different option, like telling her that he would do anything for her or worse, that he would love to have her in his bed any time she wanted. 

“Yes,” he said instead of any of those other options, running his thumb across the back of the hand he held in his firm grip. There had been a time where the idea of even holding her hand like this would have made him panic, but now it was nothing but comfort, as simple as holding his Keyblade, though his Keyblade did not curl gently around his palm in return, did not capture warmth against his skin in the same way her hand did.

Aqua smiled nervously and stood from his bed, fidgeting with her nightclothes under his gaze. He finally came back to himself and shifted to lay back down on his back, holding up the edge of the blankets so that she could curl under them with him. 

She slid cautiously into the bed, keeping a space between them both. Those few inches seemed like a mile to Terra, like a distance near impossible to cross. He would not cross it. He would let her make that decision, allow her to decide how much she wanted from him.

They lay together in the silence for a while, Terra listening to Aqua’s slightly too-fast breaths, her shoulders shivering in the dark ever so slightly. He might never have noticed had he not been so desperately in tune with her.

“Aqua,” he whispered to her back. She shifted, slowly rolled over onto her side to face him in the darkness. Terra offered her his hand once more, resting it in the space between them with his palm up. Offering, but not insisting. “It’s okay. Okay? Whatever you saw. It’s gonna be alright.” She hesitated for a moment, staring at the offering, and then gently twined their fingers together. Terra noticed how cold her palm was. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Aqua wavered for a moment, searching his eyes for something. She seemed to find it, for she relaxed and shifted suddenly, crossing the ocean of inches between them and pressing herself against the bare skin of his chest, laying across him as if he was no more than a pillow. Terra grunted in surprise as her free hand found a place to rest over his sternum, pressing against the place below which his heart beat. She lay her head over her hand, curling into his warmth and closing her eyes. Hesitantly, as if she was a cornered animal rather than his close friend, Terra wound his free arm around her, settling his palm against her lower back, where he felt it would be safest. He could feel her light, sense it like he sensed darkness and knew that his Keyblade was his own, made of his light in the same manner as her blade was made of hers. She was cool beneath his hands, against his skin, but beneath all of that she burned white hot.

 

Aqua nuzzled into his chest, her shivering slowing until she was finally still against him. “Thank you,” she finally whispered, her voice and body heavy with exhaustion. Terra wondered how long she had gone without sleep before finally coming to him like this. He smiled, his own eyes slowly closing as sleep threatened him with its spindly fingers. He hummed softly, his chest vibrating under her touch. They were asleep within minutes, the distance between them reduced to nothing.


	7. First Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Or: Courage really has to come from both sides, but it's easier to be brave when Ven is still snoring away.

Aqua was used to being the first apprentice awake in the castle. Her normal morning routine usually meant that she was showered, dressed, and downstairs with a cup of perfectly-heated tea and something to eat by the time Terra came stumbling into the kitchen, his dark blue eyes bleary with sleep and his hair toeing the line between adorably mussed and just uncaring. Ven, the newest addition to the castle, was usually even later to the kitchen; he was just as likely to fall asleep in his bowl of cereal as he was to eat it. It made her heart light to think about, the quiet way she and her best friends had settled into a routine. It felt like they belonged together, the three of them. Like they’d been together their whole lives. 

Aqua knew exactly how the routine should go, which was why she jumped when she turned the corner and noticed a shadow moving around the lit kitchen. She must have gasped, because the shadow froze before turning, revealing-

“Terra?” Aqua said, the surprise clear in her voice. Terra smiled sheepishly, a large hand coming up to rub against the back of his neck. 

“Um, morning Aqua,” Terra responded, lowering his hand and turning back to the counter behind him. The muscles of his shoulders were tight, stiff with what Aqua assumed was embarrassment at being caught awake so early. Speaking of which…

“What’re you doing awake?” Aqua asked as she made her way to the fridge. “You’re not usually the type to be up before you have to.”

Terra shrugged, a movement so casual it had to be fake. “Wasn’t tired,” he tried, only for a yawn to sneak out anyway. Aqua laughed, turning back from the fridge with a bottle of water in her hands.

“Not tired, huh?” Aqua asked. Her lips quirked up in a wry smile, and she tried to pretend she didn’t notice the way Terra’s eyes flicked down to her mouth before darting back up.

“Okay, so maybe I just had plans,” he conceded with a smile of his own. Aqua took a cooling sip of her water and walked over to where Terra was working, hopping up on the counter and crossing her legs.

“Plans, huh?” Aqua asked, peeking over at the setup Terra was working in front of. Lunch meats, sliced bread, and husks of once whole fruits littered the counter top. On the other side of his cutting board, there was a slightly dusty wicker basket waiting with its lid open. She could see the white of the castle’s plates on top of what might’ve been Terra’s blanket, stripped from his bed and tucked into the bottom of the basket. “Are you running away or something? What’s with all the food?”

Terra laughed again, setting to work on a head of lettuce with a sharp knife in his right hand. “You sure love asking questions, don’t you?”

“One of us has to,” Aqua replied. Her foot bumped against his hip when he moved. She wiggled her toes, bare of shoes or socks, against the rough fabric of his pants until he swatted at her ankle. “Might as well be me.”

“That’s fair,” Terra said, “but I think Ven might have you beat.” He finished chopping the lettuce and dumped it into a plastic container before moving on to slicing cucumbers into what could almost pass for even circles. They sat in silence for a while, Terra’s knife clicking against the cutting board while Aqua sipped at her warming bottle of water.

“So what’re you doing today?” Terra finally asked, breaking the comfortable quiet that had descended. “Any plans for this rare day off?”

Aqua shrugged, rubbing her fingers through the condensation on her bottle. “Not much, I was going to read a book, maybe go down to the lake.” She could feel his eyes on her for a moment, weighing heavy on her shoulders, before the clicking of the knife resumed.

“D’you wanna go on a picnic with me?” he asked.

Aqua looked up in surprise just in time to see Terra determinedly not looking at her, instead focusing on the tomatoes he was quartering, a hint of red across his cheeks.

“I should’ve probably asked before I started putting the whole thing together, I know, but I forgot today was our day off until after we went to bed last night and I wanted to surprise you and you really don’t have to if you don’t want to, I’d completely understand, I just thought-”

Aqua leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek, cutting off Terra’s rambling speech with a sound that she would gracefully pretend wasn’t a yelp of panic. Clearly she would have to be the one to press the issue.

“You mean like a date, Terra?” Aqua asked. Terra sputtered, his cheeks turning redder as Aqua giggled. It took him a moment to compose himself. Aqua loved how blue his eyes were when they were contrasted by his flushed cheeks.

“I mean, uh, d’you… want it to be? A date, I mean?” Terra finally asked. His eyes flicked everywhere but hers. 

Aqua leaned in again, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips. When she pulled away, Terra’s wide eyed stare forced a laugh from her. His mouth worked silently for a moment, clearly trying to make some sort of sound.

“Does that answer your question?” Aqua asked when it became clear that Terra had no intention of speaking any time soon. 

“I don’t know,” Terra said after the shock had worn off, a grin now making itself known on his face. “Maybe you need to explain it to me again.”

Aqua loved the familiar sound of Terra’s surprised laughter, almost as much as she loved the new, unfamiliar feel of his lips against hers. “Nice try, mister. Now if you’ll excuse me, I apparently have a date to get ready for.” She grinned up at him. “Meet by the lake?”

Terra nodded, still looking mildly dumbstruck from the kiss, and returned to cutting fruit. Aqua watched him for a moment before turning and darting out of the room, worried he’d catch on before she had a chance to calm the raging panic and nervousness in her chest.  _ A date! With Terra! _ She hardly dared believe it. She debated for a moment about pinching herself before deciding that such an action was too cliché for her tastes. Still, the other possibility, that she was awake and about to go on a date with her best friend, was more absurd by far. 

The morning breeze was cool, bordering on biting as it nipped at her skin, but she appreciated it nonetheless as she made her way down to the almost lake she had started to think of as their spot, the spot where she’d first kissed him, where they’d discussed a future where they were masters together. She settled on the sandy shore, crossing her legs neatly underneath her. Now that she had the time to sit and really think about what she’d agreed to, she couldn’t help the anxiety that twisted in her chest. Would this go well, or would it only end in awkwardness? The idea of losing Terra as a friend hurt, but at the same time, she couldn’t let this chance slip away from her. The Master always said that they could not be steered wrong if they followed their hearts, and her heart wanted to be with Terra. 

Aqua was so wound up in her own thoughts, one hand pressed against her chest as she watched the stars fade into the morning’s dawn, that she jumped when something was set down beside her.

“Hey,” Terra said as he crossed his arms, a playful grin crossing his face. “A little jumpy there?”

“I guess so,” Aqua responded with a laugh. “You know how I get caught up in my own head.” 

Terra crouched down next to her, opening the basket and tugging out a blanket. Up close, Aqua could tell that it really was his blanket, dark brown and thin from repeated washings. Together, they laid the blanket across the sandy ground. Terra set the basket in the center of the blanket and knelt next to it, pulling sandwiches and fruit from inside it. Aqua hesitated for a moment, watching him work, before walking around and sitting next to him. He tensed for a moment, pointedly not making eye contact. 

“Nervous?” Aqua asked.

“Of course not,” Terra responded, bravado in his tone. Aqua recognized it; it was how he sounded when the Master challeged him to try something new. Like it was a foregone conclusion that Terra was right. It also usually meant that Terra was not right.

“It’s okay to be nervous, you know,” Aqua responded after a moment of uncomfortable silence. “I am.”

Terra looked up from the spread of food in surprise. “You are?”

Aqua reached across the distance between them to rest her hand on top of his. “A little, yeah.”

Terra slowly relaxed, the hard line of his mouth softening into a smile. “Oh. That’s good. Me too.”

Aqua met his eyes for a moment before they both started laughing, and it was as though the tension was bleeding from them. When they finally went quiet, Aqua leaned against Terra’s side, allowing herself to appreciate the heat radiating from his skin and the comfort of his light so close to her. They ate their meal in a comfortable silence, listening to the sounds of their world coming alive around them. When Aqua had eaten her fill, she sighed and stretched out across Terra’s legs, resting her head gently on his thigh and closing her eyes.

“Thank you for this, Terra,” she murmured to him. The sun was warm and red through her eyelids as it rose higher in the clear sky. 

“Thank you for agreeing,” Terra said. Aqua felt him move, but was surprised nonetheless when his hand came up to cup her cheek.

“So,” Aqua said, opening her eyes to make eye contact with him. “Does this mean we’re…?”

“Dating, you mean? Because, I’d like to, yeah,” Terra said. Aqua covered his hand with hers, tugging gently until he brought his hand close enough for her to kiss his palm.

“Oh, Aqua said with a smile, "that's good. Me too."

Terra looked pensive for a moment, his thumb brushing along the line of her jaw, before he started to grin. “So does that mean I get another kiss now?”

Aqua laughed, allowing her eyes to flutter closed once more as she released his hand. “I don’t know, Terra, what do you think?”

  
The lips pressed to hers were better than any answer Terra could have offered.


	8. First (Real) Kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Or: Terra swore he'd stop thinking about her lips, pink and soft, and the way they'd surely feel pressed against his. He wasn't doing a very good job of that.

Terra fidgeted with the strings tied around his waist, looking very determinedly anywhere but at Aqua. It was difficult for him, especially considering he could feel her so close to him, her thigh pressed to his as she focused on whatever book she’d picked for reading tonight. The issue in itself wasn’t that he was close to her, of course. They’d spent a lot of time together growing up, a lot of time wrestling and sharing beds, exactly the sort of thing someone did with their best friend.. No, the issue here was with Terra himself. As he’d grown up, it had become harder and harder to treat Aqua like just another apprentice. He’d gotten harder on her, expected more of her, because he was worried about liking her too much. And now, here they were, with Aqua innocently reading her book and Terra trying not to show how affected he was by the gentle brush of her thighs, clothed only in her usual shorts, as they moved past his.

Add in the knowledge that they were dating- because that was what it was, right? That’s what you call two people who kiss each other and go out to do things together, just the two of them. That’s dating, right?- and Terra was understandably shaken by her presence.

Aqua, oblivious to the rawness of Terra’s nerves, sighed and turned a page, shifting her leg against his as she stretched her legs out in front of her before returning to her resting position, now reclined slightly against his side.

Terra swallowed back his first instinct, the instinct to tense and run from before they’d started dating- and dating was really a funny word for what they had, because they really didn’t fit the roles Terra imagined when he imagined  _ dating _ , not that that was necessarily a bad thing so much as a fact- and instead hesitantly rested his arm over her shoulders, his hand settling against her side and carefully above her hips where he was safe.

It drove him crazy, the way he couldn’t calm down anymore. This was Aqua, his best friend, the girl he’d grown up alongside. A few simple kisses shouldn’t shake him to his core like this, but here he was, second-guessing everything.

From next to him, Aqua sighed and slipped a bookmark into her book before closing it and setting it aside. That done, she twisted to face Terra more fully, reaching up to rest her palm delicately against his cheek.

“Hey,” she murmured softly. “Are you nervous?”

Terra shook his head before thinking about it, feeling her eyes on him, and slowly nodding instead.

“Yeah” he replied quietly, removing his arm from her shoulder and resting it in his lap again, fidgeting with the ties of his belt. “Yeah, a little bit.”

Aqua smiled, just a little tilt to her lips, and gently traced her thumb along the line of his jaw. “Me too,” she said, her voice a whispered breath that brushed past Terra’s lips. He swallowed nervously, his eyes flicking down to her mouth before darting back up to her eyes. Her smile widened and she laughed, low and soft and lovely, before leaning in and gently pressing her lips against his.

They’d kissed a few times, gentle pecks and quick presses of lips, sweet things hidden between their day to day lives, but they hadn’t yet found time to really kiss, the way Terra thought they were supposed to, the way he imagined them kissing when he allowed himself to think about the endless possibilities. Terra twisted his body toward her, resting a hand on her cheek and marveling at how delicate she felt under his hand, especially when he knew better than to believe that. Her lips were soft and pliant against his, her breath warm and damp and sweet. He pulled back just a bit, taking a deep breath as he ran his hand gently through her short hair. The strands clung to his fingers, silky and fine; it felt like all of his senses were being taken over.

He wasn’t sure what to do with his hands- he felt abundantly aware of how clumsy and big they were as he moved them from her cheeks to her shoulders and down to her waist, letting them hover there for a moment. She sighed into their kiss, and Terra’s head swam as he finally settled his palms against the gentle swell of her hips, over fabric and leather He felt dizzy, unsure of what he was supposed to do other than move his mouth with hers, try to set a rhythm for their kiss.

Aqua pulled away, her eyelashes fluttering for a moment before she opened her eyes fully, and Terra’s heart ached at the sight of her before him. He wanted to crush her to his chest, kiss her everywhere he could reach. His hands tightened ever so slightly around her hips.

Her lips were shiny with dampness. Terra wanted to taste her again, taste the cocoa on her tongue. He leaned forward, watching the way her eyes drifted closed, her lips parted ever so slightly in anticipation, her head tilted back. He hesitated for just a moment, so close he could feel her breath dance across his skin, before pressing his lips to hers again. His fingers curled, warm and rough, around the soft curve of her hips, pulling her fully against him. They kissed, soft and slow, the only sound in the room other than the pounding of Terra’s heart against his ribcage. He wondered if her heart was racing the same way. He hoped it was. He hoped she felt the way she did, like they were the only two people in the room, in the castle even, like he never wanted this moment to end. When she pulled away, he almost pulled her back, crushed her to his chest and kissed her until her breath came in searing gasps. Instead, he let his hands slide up from her hips to grip her shoulders between his palms.

She blinked up at him, her lips shimmering and swollen, and Terra’s heart positively ached. He wanted nothing more in that moment than to hold her there in the circle of her arms, feel her strength and kiss her skin, admire the way the castle’s lights played through her hair.

“Was that… okay?” Aqua asked, her voice husky and a little breathless. Terra stared at her for a moment, unable to comprehend how she could think that moment was anything less than perfect.

“Better than okay,” he murmured before leaning in to kiss her again. “Much better.”


	9. First Beach Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Or: The ocean seemed full of promise, the sunlight sparkling off of its surface like stars.

Aqua laid back across her towel, its deep purple fabric soft against her tender skin, stretched out in the heavy sunlight like a contented cat. The sun here was so very different from the sun back home. 

The sun of the Land of Departure was comfortable, always warm but never scorching. Some days were warmer than others, yes, but never hot, not really. Not like here, where the cerulean water foamed white on the border between land and sea, where the sun caressed her porcelain skin like fingers. She sighed, rolling onto her stomach and nestling her head into the cool, dark hollow made by her arms.

In the distance she could hear splashing sounds, laughter and shouting, and in that moment she truly felt contentment. Their lives were so busy, full of lessons and training and Keyblades, and she wouldn’t give up a moment of it for all the munny in the world, but there was something uniquely pleasant about getting to be like this, just the three of them, getting to hear the two most important people in her life laugh and enjoy being together.

“Aqua!” Ven called from the surf, stirring her from her contemplation. “C’mon, get in the water!”

She sat up and squinted, her eyes adjusted to the dark of her arms, just in time to see Terra scoop him up from behind and throw him deeper into the water, Ven whooping with joy until the moment he hit the water and vanished below its surface. Aqua hid her laughter behind a delicate hand before standing on her towel, peeling her cover up away from her skin to reveal a modest two-piece suit colored in blacks and whites before tucking it into her bag. 

“Come put more sunscreen on,” she called to the two boys, both of whom seemed eager to continue their water wrestling, “and we’ll talk.”

Ven rolled his eyes but bounded toward the shore, Terra wading more calmly behind him. Aqua would not forget the time she’d decided to be lax about sunscreen and Ven had come home crisped to a fine, tender red from shoulders to waist, nor the week after where Ven would whine at the slightest touch and shiver whenever he was left alone. She scooped the sunscreen up from the sand and shook her azure hair out of her face, gesturing to Ven. He made a face but spread his arms obediently, allowing Aqua to cover his back with sunscreen. Once his back was thoroughly covered, he held his hands out so she could pour more of the liquid into his hands.

“And make sure you get  _ everywhere _ this time,” she said, her eyes sparking playfully. He stuck his tongue out and started on his shoulders and chest while she turned to Terra. He seemed a little flush from the sun, and while he never burned while she or Ven did, he would still go home tender and grouchy if she didn’t force him to put sunscreen on too. Terra, as if sensing his fate, sighed heavily and turned away, exposing the expanse of his back to her. Aqua forced herself to not think about what she was doing as she poured more of the sunscreen into her palms. The bottle found a resting place in the sand as she started to gently rub the cream into the muscles of his back, trying to not notice the strength beneath her fingers, the way they flexed as he moved.

There was something about touching him like this, in broad daylight, that felt different than when it was just the two of them in a sparsely-lit room. She swallowed back the lump in her throat, hoping neither of them noticed anything different about her, really hoping Terra couldn’t sense the racing of her pulse as she moved her fingers down his spine to his lower back, trying to ignore the low hum in his throat when she pressed into the muscle there.

“All done,” Aqua said, clearing her throat after to rid herself of the odd rasp. He turned to her, and was he smirking, just a little bit? Aqua shook her head to clear it; when she looked again, there was only the same small smile he reserved just for her, soft and innocent and one of her favorite expressions on his face. He held his hands out, and she scrambled to find the bottle, pressing it into his hands.

“Your turn,” he said, and Aqua must’ve been imagining the way his voice lowered as he popped the cap open. “Turn around.”

Aqua did, running her hands through her hair to make sure it was pulled up off of her neck, grateful again that she had cut her hair short like this. The sand beneath them shifted as he stepped close, and there was a moment before he pressed his warm hands to her shoulders, gently massaging the cream into her skin. Aqua sighed, letting her head hang forward. His hands were lovely and calloused and warm like the sun before but in a whole different way at the same time as he worked the sunscreen in, slipping fingers under the straps of her suit and causing her to giggle a little. From behind her, he laughed, moving his hands down to get her lower back and turning her giggles into quiet near purrs of pleasure.

“Done,” he whispered into her ear, making her jump and spin around only to see him laughing and giving her that big puppy smile she loved so much. There was a moment where she tried to look stern before she, too, dissolved into laughter.

“Are you guys done yet?” Ven whined from halfway down the beach, already bouncing around in the wet sand where the water lapped. Aqua grinned at Terra and grabbed the sunscreen from the sand where he’d dropped it, quickly covering the rest of her body.

What was a little bit of tenderness compared to the grins on the faces of both her boys? She’d be fine. So she grabbed Terra, who had barely managed to finish covering himself in sunscreen, by the hand and dragged him down the beach to the water, grinning and laughing like it might be their last day in the universe.

**Author's Note:**

> Man oh man, I started this months ago and swore I wouldn't start posting it until it was done but, you know, here we are. Sigh. 
> 
> There should be 26 chapters all in all, assuming I don't ditch a prompt or add a prompt to my current list.


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